On Saturday 30 September, a team of Clegg Construction employees and partners laced up their walking boots to participate in Yorkshire’s Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for Nottinghamshire young person’s charity, Base 51.
The 24-mile round trip route, which included an eye-watering 5200ft of ascent, saw the team take on the peaks of Pen-y-Ghent (694 metres), Whernside (736 metres) and Ingleborough (723 metres) – three hills which form part of the Pennine range, and encircle the head of the valley of the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
The Clegg challengers were joined by a team of employees from Atkins Search – a Nottingham-based recruitment company specialising in the Construction, Consultancy and Residential sectors, whose partner charity of the year is Base 51.
The Clegg team was made up of both site and office-based employees, including site managers, project managers, quantity surveyors, and four members of the company’s pre-construction department.
Completion times for the challenge ranged between 9.5 and 11 hours – below the 12-hour average.
Darren Chapman, operations director at Clegg Construction, is no stranger to the Three Peaks Challenge, having already completed it twice! He was instrumental in helping other Clegg Challengers prepare for the event, including arranging a 12-mile training walk which took place in the Derbyshire Dales a few weeks prior.
Darren said: “This was a very physically and mentally demanding challenge – not helped by the weather conditions – but overall, it was a successful and rewarding day completed in aid of a very worthy cause. We all look forward to the next challenge!”
Chris Rolling, associate director at Atkins Search, said: “The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge certainly took its toll, but the experience, memories and sense of achievement will stick with us for many years to come. The support and teamwork throughout the challenge were incredible and vital to its successful completion. Thank you to all at Clegg and Atkins Search for taking part!”
Founded in 1993, Base 51 is dedicated to supporting 11 to 25-year-olds in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire through the provision of counselling, trauma support, skills workshops, and more. Between March and December 2022, the charity served 3,370 hot meals, provided 1:1 support to over 500 individuals, and welcomed over 4,088 people to its youth club.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to collect donations and has so far exceeded the initial £1,000 donation target by over 100% – with the total donations currently standing at a fantastic £2,180. The page will remain up and running until the end of the week (Friday 6 October) for any last-minute sponsorship pledges.
Verity Mitchell, head of fundraising and events at Base 51, said: “We are so grateful to the amazing teams from Clegg Construction and Atkins Search for taking on this challenge to raise vital funds for Base 51.
“The money raised will help us provide support to 11–25-year-olds in need in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, the money raised will cover the cost of 44 crisis support sessions with counselling, food parcels, showers and laundry for young people who are struggling. Thank you to everyone who took part!”
